Circuit integrated suspension and method of manufacture thereof

ABSTRACT

An Extended Circuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS) includes: a load beam, including a first plurality of traces disposed on a first side of the load beam and a first connection portion; and a flexure circuit which is disposed on an opposite side of the first side of the load beam and connected to the load beam by the first connection portion, and includes a second plurality of traces and a second connection portion to connect to the first plurality of traces on the load beam.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/648,109 filed Oct. 9, 2012, which claims priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/552,985, filed Oct. 28, 2011, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/620,302, filed Apr. 4, 2012.The entire disclosures of the above-named applications are consideredpart of the present disclosure, and are incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present application relates to extended circuit integratedsuspensions (ECIS), and more specifically, to the load beam and theflexure circuit of the ECIS.

2. Description of the Related Art

Hard disk drives are continuously increasing capacity due to newfeatures in all aspects of the electromechanical design. Several suchfeatures relate to the area in close proximity to, or inside, theread/write head and suspension supporting it. For example, the flyingheight control is employed by using a heating element around the readtransducer. This results in additional traces to be brought to the headthrough the suspension flexure/circuit. While four lead heads were oncecommon (two leads for the reader and two leads for the writer), theaddition of the heater necessitated six lead heads and a correspondingcapable suspension flexure/circuit. Thermal Asperity (TA) detection,which is a sensor located within the read/write head, is an examplewhere eight lead heads and a corresponding capable suspensionflexure/circuit are needed. Writer heaters, and Heat Assisted MagneticRecording (HAMR), which co-locates a laser under the slider (head),further strain the interconnect challenges of the read/write head andsuspension flexure/circuit. Further, data rate, bandwidth and low powerconsumption requirements tend to drive lower write trace impedance whichis enabled by wider trace widths. Real estate management for the tracesin the suspension flexure/circuit has become more important.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present application may include an Extended CircuitIntegrated Suspension (ECIS), which involves a load beam; a flexurecircuit including a plurality of traces; and a connection portion whichconnects the load beam laterally to the flexure circuit, wherein theload beam, the flexure circuit, and the connecting portion are formed asa single component from a single panel, and the connection portion isoriented so that the connection portion is folded to place the flexurecircuit onto a first side of the load beam.

Additional aspects of the present application may include an ExtendedCircuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), which involves a load beam havinga first plurality of traces disposed on a first side of the load beamand a first connection portion; and a flexure circuit which is disposedon an opposite side of the first side of the load beam and connected tothe load beam by the first connection portion, and having a secondplurality of traces and a second connection portion to connect to thefirst plurality of traces on the load beam.

Additional aspects of the present application may include a method ofmanufacturing an Extended Circuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), whichinvolves forming, in a single panel, a single component including a loadbeam, a flexure circuit, and a first connection portion which connectsthe load beam laterally to the flexure circuit; and folding over thesingle component, to place the flexure circuit onto the load beam.

Additional aspects of the present application may include an ExtendedCircuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), which involves a load beam havinga stainless steel layer, a polyimide layer disposed on a first side ofthe stainless steel layer, and circuitry disposed on the polyimidelayer, the circuitry being connected to a via disposed on a portion ofthe polyimide layer located outside the stainless steel layer; and aflexure circuit which is disposed on an opposite side of the first sideof the stainless steel layer, and having a plurality of traces and atleast one connection portion to connect to said via.

Additional aspects of the present application may include an ExtendedCircuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), which involves a load beam,including circuitry disposed on a first side of the load beam andconnected to a via located on the load beam; and a flexure circuit whichis disposed on an opposite side of said first side of the load beam, andhaving a plurality of traces and at least one connection portion toconnect to the via, wherein at least one of said plurality of traces,which connects the connection portion to the flexure circuit, is foldedover to connect the connection portion to the via on the first side ofthe load beam.

Additional aspects of the present application may include an ExtendedCircuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), which involves a load beam, havingcircuitry disposed on a first side of the load beam and connected to avia located on the load beam; and a flexure circuit which is disposed onan opposite side of said first side of the load beam, and having aplurality of traces and at least one connection portion to connect tothe via, and at least one piezoelectric device (PZT) disposed on theload beam and connected to the circuitry.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification exemplify the implementations andapplications described herein and, together with the description, serveto explain and illustrate principles of the inventive technique.

FIGS. 1( a), 1(b), 1(c), 1(d), 1(e), and 1(f) illustrate a related artand example implementations of an extended circuit integrated suspension(ECIS), and an example application of the example implementations.

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of a related art circuit integratedsuspension.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate views of an ECIS, in accordance with a firstexample implementation.

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate views of an ECIS, in accordance with asecond example implementation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a view of an ECIS, in accordance with a third exampleimplementation.

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of an ECIS, in accordance with a fourthexample implementation.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate views of an ECIS, in accordance with a fifthexample implementation.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart for manufacturing a related artsuspension.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram for manufacturing the load beam andflexure circuit as a single component, in accordance with the firstexample implementation.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram for manufacturing the load beam andflexure circuit, in accordance with example implementations.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example application of an ECIS.

FIG. 16 illustrates a related art milli-actuator utilized in asuspension for hard disk drives.

FIG. 18 illustrates an ECIS with a center gimbal weld and dimple, inaccordance with an application of the example implementations.

FIGS. 17, 18, and 19 illustrate an extended circuit integratedsuspension (ECIS) for connection to PZT's acting as Semi CollocatedMicro-Actuators (SCLMA), in accordance with an application of theexample implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, in which identical functional elements aredesignated with like numerals. The accompanying drawings show by way ofan illustration, and not by way of a limitation, certain exemplaryembodiments and implementations consistent with aspects of exemplaryembodiments. These implementations are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the exemplary embodimentsand it is to be understood that other implementations may be utilizedand that structural changes and/or substitutions of various elements maybe made without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventiveconcept. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to beconstrued in a limited sense.

In the related art, placing instrumentation onto the loadbeam was notpossible, due to the lack of electrical connection means. Therefore,exemplary embodiments provide extended electrical connections to permitthe placing of circuitry outside onto the load beam to interact with theflexure circuit on the opposite side.

FIGS. 1( a) to 1(f) illustrate a related art CIS and exampleimplementations of an extended circuit integrated suspension (ECIS).Specifically, FIG. 1( a) illustrates a related art CIS, which does notutilize any instrumentation or extended circuitry on the load beam.Further details of the related art implementation of FIG. 1( a) areprovided below for FIG. 2. FIG. 1( b) illustrates an exampleimplementation of an ECIS where the load beam and flexure circuitmanufactured as a single component with an outside interconnectconnecting the load beam and the flexure circuit. The CIS can be foldedfrom bottom to top by folding the interconnect as shown at 100, therebymaintaining the connection between the load beam and the base plate.Further details of the implementation of FIG. 1( b) are provided belowfor FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 1( c) illustrates an example implementation ofan ECIS utilizing a via 101 placed within the load beam to provideelectrical connections between the flexure circuit and the load beam.Further details of the implementation of FIG. 1( c) are provided inFIGS. 5-7. FIG. 1( d) illustrates an implementation of an ECIS utilizinga via 102 placed outside the load beam to provide electrical connectionsbetween the flexure circuit and the load beam. Further details of theimplementation of FIG. 1( c) are provided in FIG. 11. FIG. 1( e)illustrates an implementation of an ECIS utilizing an foldedinterconnect, where connections of the flexure circuit 103 are foldedover and onto the load beam. Further details of the implementation ofFIG. 1( e) are provided in FIG. 12. FIG. 1( f) illustrates anapplication of the example implementation of FIG. 1( c), where a semicollocated micro-actuator (SCLMA) is implemented on the load beam.Further details of applying a SCLMA in the example implementations areprovided in FIGS. 17-19.

FIG. 2 illustrates a view of a related art circuit integrated suspension200. The suspension has three separate parts: the base plate 201, theload beam 202, and the flexure circuit 203. The load beam and flexurecircuit are made separately, and welded together via flexurecircuit/load beam welds 204. Load beam/baseplate welds 205 are providedto weld the load beam to the baseplate, and a center weld 206 isprovided to weld the flexure circuit to the base plate. The load beam202 may be formed to provide rails 207, one or more dimples 208 and ahead lift tab 209, depending on the desired implementation. The flexurecircuit 203 also includes a read/write head 210 and solder jets 211 tofacilitate connections between the read/write head and the flexurecircuit. However, as shown in FIG. 2, there are no interconnects toconnect the load beam to the flexure circuit electrically, and nocircuitry is disposed on the load beam.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrates views of an ECIS, in accordance with a firstexample implementation. In the first example implementation, the loadbeam and flexure circuit are manufactured as a single component by beingmanufactured in the same manufacturing panel. Interconnects may beprovided as part or as a connection portion connecting the load beam andthe flexure circuit when the flexure circuit and the load beam aremanufactured as a single component. Alternately, exterior interconnectsmay also be used. The interconnects are then folded when the load beamand flexure circuit are folded together.

FIG. 3 illustrates the first example implementation 300 in a flattenedview from the trace side. The load beam 302 and the flexure circuit 303are manufactured as a single component, along with connecting portion301 and the tail of the flexure circuit 304. Welds 305 are provided toallow the load beam to be welded to the base plate. By manufacturing theload beam 302 and the flexure circuit 303 as a single component with aconnecting portion 301 connecting the load beam and the flexure circuitlaterally, a process of folding permits the flexure circuit to be placedon one side while permitting circuit traces to be disposed on theopposite side of the load beam, wherein the component can be folded overby folding connecting portion 301. The load beam 302 and the flexurecircuit 303 may be connected together by connecting traces, which can beused as connecting portion 301, displaced alongside connecting portion301, or provided additionally depending on the desired implementation.

FIG. 4 illustrates the first example implementation when the component400 is formed, folded and welded to the base plate 404. As shown in theview of FIG. 4, rails 401 and limiter 402 may be formed depending on thedesired implementation. The connecting portion 403 is folded over tofold the load beam and the flexure circuit together. An additionalbaseplate weld 405 may be provided on the flexure tail 406 to secure theflexure to the baseplate.

FIGS. 5-7 illustrate views of an ECIS, in accordance with a secondexample implementation. In the second example implementation, circuitryis disposed onto one side of the load beam to connect with the flexurecircuit on the opposite side by a via. The manufacturing panel for thesecond example implementation may involve separate panels for theflexure circuit and the load beam.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded front view of the second exampleimplementation. The load beam 500 is modified to have one or moreisolation rings 501 for vias formed in the stainless steel layer of theload beam 500. The flexure circuit 502 is similarly modified to provideelectrical connections to the load beam. In the second exampleimplementation, not only traces, but sensors and actuators can therebybe disposed onto the load beam opposite to the flexure circuit by use ofthe vias and isolation rings, which provide backside access to theflexure circuit. In comparison to the first example implementation, inwhich a common ECIS panel is used for the flexure circuit and the loadbeam to manufacture the flexure circuit and the load beam as a singlecomponent, a separate panel may be employed in this and other ECISimplementations described below. A common element to the first exampleembodiment described above, are that the load beam component and flexurecircuit can be mated and connected by welds. The circuitry opposing theflexure circuit can then interact with the flexure circuit through atleast one via disposed on the load beam itself.

FIG. 6 illustrates a front side exploded view of the flexure circuit 502shown in FIG. 5, in accordance with the second example implementation.The stainless steel (SST) layer 600, the polyimide layer 601 and theconductive circuit layer 602 are modified based on the addition of oneor more isolation rings and vias 603 provided on the SST layer 600. Theconductive circuit layer 602 may utilize copper traces or otherconductive materials, depending on the desired implementation.

FIG. 7 illustrates a back side exploded view of the flexure circuit 502and load beam 500 shown in FIG. 5, in accordance with the second exampleimplementation. Using the modified flexure circuit 502 and load beam500, one or more interconnect vias 700 may be utilize to place a circuiton the top of the load beam and facilitate connections between the loadbeam circuit and the flexure circuit. The conductive layer 701 of theload beam circuit can be made of copper or other conductive materialsand may have one or more holes in the pads for interfacing with theinterconnect vias 700. The load beam circuit may also have a polyimidelayer 702 to insulate the circuit from the load beam, if the load beamis made of a conductive material (e.g., stainless steel).

FIG. 8 illustrates a view of an ECIS, in accordance with a third exampleimplementation. In a third example implementation, one or more vias aredisposed onto a portion of the base insulating layer disposed outside ofthe perimeter of the load beam. FIG. 8 illustrates the interconnect viafeatures disposed outside the part edge in an exploded front side viewof the ECIS. In FIG,. 8, the via 800 is disposed at the polyimide layer803 located in a space within the window of the hinge 801. The load beamcircuit 802 can then be placed on the load beam and connected to theflexure circuit 804 through the via 800 by using solder bumps oranisotropic conductive film (ACF) 805.

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of an ECIS, in accordance with a fourthexample implementation. In a fourth example implementation, circuitry isdisposed onto a first side of the load beam to connect with the flexurecircuit on the opposite side, by folding the connection portions of theflexure circuit to interact with the circuitry on the first side of theload beam.

In the exploded front view as shown in FIG. 9, one or more connectionportions 900 of the flexure circuit are extended and folded over toconnect to the connection portions or vias 901 of the circuitry disposedon the opposite side of the load beam. The connection portions 901 ofthe circuitry disposed on the opposite side of the load beam may also beextended and folded as needed. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the extensionwraps around the load beam through the hinge window to the other side ofthe load beam.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate view of an ECIS, in accordance with a fifthexample implementation. In a fifth example implementation, an electricalconnection, (e.g., such as a wire, an interposer additional separatecircuit), is provided from the connection portions of the circuitrydisposed on the load beam to the connection portions of the flexurecircuit. The electrical connection may be bonded, soldered or connectedutilizing other methods. FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of a load beamand a flexure circuit utilizing an electrical connection (e.g., a wire)1003 to connect the connection portion 1002 of the load beam circuit1000 to the flexure circuit 1001 through the hinge window. FIG. 11illustrates the bottom view of FIG. 10. The electrical connection 1003connects to the connection portion 1004 of the flexure circuit.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart for manufacturing a related artsuspension. The manufacture of a suspension involves taking inputmaterials to form a base, a flexure circuit and a load beam 1200.Because the flexure circuit and the load beam are manufactured by usingdifferent panels, the flexure circuit undergoes a singulate/detab at1201, while the load beam is formed separately at 1202. The flexurecircuit and load beam are welded together at 1203, a hinge gram loadmechanical forming is conducted at 1204, a hinge gram load laseradjustment is conducted at 1205 and the flexure is adjusted for pitchand roll at 1206, either mechanically or by laser, or both.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram for manufacturing the load beam andflexure circuit as a single component, in accordance with the firstexample implementation. The process is similar to the flow diagram ofFIG. 12, with some modifications. The load beam is made in same panel asflexure at 1300. The singulate/detab may then be performed on the singlecomponent at 1301, while the load beam portion of the single componentis formed at 1302. An additional folding is conducted to fold theflexure circuit onto the load beam at 1303.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram for manufacturing the load beam andflexure circuit, in accordance with example implementations. In theexample shown in FIG. 4, the load beam circuit is manufacturedseparately from the flexure and the base plate at 1400. The load beamcircuit undergoes a singulate/detab at 1401, and the load beam formingis conducted at 1402. A via solder reflow 1403 may be performed to formsolder bumps between the vias of the load beam and the flexure circuit.Electrical connections (e.g., wire, interposer), may also be formed andsoldered or bonded to the connection portions of the flexure circuit andthe load beam circuit at 1403.

In any of the example implementations indicated above, any kind ofcircuitry, including any traces, circuits, discrete components, passiveor active, Surface Mount Devices (SMD), copper dummy mass volumes,additive passive dampers, additive active dampers, any sensors, waveguides, polymer waveguide, lasers, HAMR laser drivers, HAMR laser powersensors, optical devices, Thermal Asperity (TA) sensors, preamps, MediaBurnishing Force Sensors, Multi-Disk Write (MDW) sensors/actuators,Piezoelectric (PZT) devices (sensing or driving), polysensitive layers,micro-actuators, milli-actuators, co-located gimbal based dual stageactuators (DSA), and any other electric circuitry, can thereby placedonto the load beam and be electrically connected. The exampleimplementations described above permit the circuitry to be placed on theside of the load beam that is opposite to the flexure circuit. Theexample implementations may also allow for the placement of any sensorsand other additional circuitry onto the load beam. For example, anoptical instrument placed onto the load beam can thereby detectmechanical strains for bending, torsion, thermally induced strains,vibrations and other measurable parameters depending on a desiredimplementation.

However, passive trace layers may also be placed on the load beam ifdesired. FIG. 15 illustrate an example application of a ECIS withpassive components on the load beam, that are not electrically connectedto the flexure circuit 1500. In the example of FIG. 15, passiveunconnected trace layers are deposited on an insulating polyimide layer.In the passive application, there is no connection to the ECIS. Threeextra layers (base polyimide, copper and cover polyimide) are disposedon the load beam, and patterned as desired for added stiffness, ortuning mass distribution. FIG. 15 illustrates stiffness being added nearthe rails in the flat portion, as an example. Thus, three added materiallayers 1501 can be disposed even on the rails 1502.

In another example application, piezoelectric (PZT) devices (sensing ordriving) can be used as semi-collocated micro-actuators (SCLMA) based onthe above example implementations.

FIG. 16 illustrates a related art milli-actuator utilized in asuspension for hard disk drives. A related art suspension includes anextended base plate 1602 and an elongated portion 1603 for thesuspension. The extended base plate may include side and or pivotalhinges 1601, slits, and a swage hole 1604. The elongated portion mayhave a spring region 1605 connecting the load beam to the extended baseplate. The load beam may have holes for welding, a dimple, and a lifttip. Milli-actuators 1600 in the related art may have PZT motors thatare located far from the slider, move the whole load beam laterally andexcite resonances in the E-Block arms and the load beams. Collocation ofthe mili-actuators at the extended base plate of the suspension moves amuch smaller mass and is less prone to excite undesirable resonances.Some flexure based micro-actuators in the related art may require amajor architecture change to the gimbal, especially while PZT motors areto be located in and around the gimbal. As a result, there may not bemuch space to work with for gimbal based micro-actuators. There is aneed to preserve gimbal structures that are optimized in pitch, roll,thrust, yaw and lateral stiffnesses for best slider flyingcharacteristics, yet enable micro-actuation that is collocated with theslider.

In an example application, two PZT motors may be arranged near the tipand around a slotted loadbeam for use as a SCLMA. Traces may be locatedonto the loadbeam to couple the PZT motors to additional circuitry, suchas a controller. The PZTs can be configured such that when a first PZTdevice is driven to contract, a second PZT device can be driven toexpand. As the first PZT is driven to contract and the second PZT isdriven to expand, a portion of the load beam can be made to move ordeform slightly, thereby enabling lateral movement at the slider head.

FIG. 17 illustrates an extended circuit integrated suspension (ECIS) forconnection to PZTs acting as Semi Collocated Micro-Actuators (SCLMA), inaccordance with an application of the example implementations. Theexample application shown in FIG. 17 brings electrical traces to the topof the load beam 1704, which may be connected to PZTs 1700 disposed onthe load beam and connected to the load beam circuit by solder jet bonds(SJB) 1701. The PZTs are semi collocated in proximity to each other. Thetraces forming the load beam circuit 1702 may utilize a conductive layer(e.g. such as copper) that has a hole in the pads to connect to theflexure circuit 1705, with a load beam circuit polyimide 1703 toseparate the circuit from the load beam. A conventional baseplate gimbal201 may be used in such a configuration, or customized depending on thedesired implementation. Further, the traces for connecting to the PZTsare not limited to this configuration. Other configurations are alsopossible for connecting to the PZTs (e.g. straight traces to PZTs).

FIG. 18 illustrates an ECIS with a center gimbal weld 1800 and dimple1801, in accordance with an application of the example implementations.As shown in the example of FIG. 18, the PZTs 1802 and the slotted loadbeam 1803 surround, and are longitudinally centered with, the gimbaldimple 1800, which behaves as a pivot point for the micro-actuator. Thecenter-type gimbal weld 1800 can be used for the SCLMA.

FIG. 19 illustrates a close-up of the PZT motors of FIG. 17, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. In an example application, aconventional gimbal may be used with the load beam 1704, therebyremoving the necessity of having added traces or copper contributionthrough the gimbal. The PZTs in the configuration of FIG. 19 may alsohave more lateral space and height as a result of placing them on theload beam. With the collocation of the PZTs on the load beam, there maybe reduced excitation at the load beam and at the electronic circuitblock (E-block) arm in comparison to the related art configuration.

Various layers may also be employed around the PZT in an exampleapplication. For example, each PZT may be connected to a top PZTelectrode and a bottom PZT electrode that is attached to a stainlesssteel (SST) support layer of the load beam by a conductive epoxy. Thetop PZT electrode may be connected to the copper layer of the traces bya solder jet bond (SJB) The traces may include a cover layer, aconductive layer (e.g. such as copper) and a base layer.

Further, the SCLMA configuration as described above may also be used ina “sense” mode, in accordance with an example application. For example,the PZT's would generate a voltage, so an off-track shock and/orvibration event can be detected locally at the head. In comparison,related art shock sensors are located on the Main Drive PCB, theFlexible Printed Circuit (FPC) connector, or a circuit residing on theE-block arm.

Moreover, other implementations will be apparent to those skilled in theart from consideration of the specification and practice of the exampleimplementations disclosed herein. Various aspects and/or components ofthe described implementations may be used alone or in any combination inthe ECIS. It is intended that the specification and examples beconsidered as examples only, with a true scope and spirit of theinvention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An Extended Circuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS),comprising: a load beam, comprising a first plurality of traces disposedon a first side of the load beam and a first connection portion; and aflexure circuit which is disposed on an opposite side of the first sideof the load beam and connected to the load beam by the first connectionportion, and comprises a second plurality of traces and a secondconnection portion to connect to the first plurality of traces on theload beam.
 2. The ECIS of claim 1, wherein the first connection portionand the second connection portion are connected by a via disposed on theload beam.
 3. The ECIS of claim 1, wherein the first connection portionand the second connection portion are connected by a wire.
 4. The ECISof claim 1, wherein the load beam comprises a base layer and a polymidelayer, the first plurality of traces of the load beam is disposed on thepolymide layer, and the first connection portion and the secondconnection portion are connected by a via disposed on a portion of thepolyimide layer disposed outside the base layer.
 5. The ECIS of claim 1,wherein the second connection portion is connected to the firstconnection portion on the first side of the load beam.
 6. An ExtendedCircuit Integrated Suspension (ECIS), comprising: a load beam,comprising a first plurality of traces disposed on a first side of theload beam and a first connection portion; a flexure circuit which isdisposed on an opposite side of the first side of the load beam andconnected to the load beam by the first connection portion, andcomprises a second plurality of traces and a second connection portionto connect to the first plurality of traces on the load beam; and atleast one piezoelectric device (PZT) disposed on the load beam andconnected to the first plurality of traces.
 7. The ECIS of claim 6,wherein the at least one PZT is a micro actuator configured to move aportion of the load beam.
 8. The ECIS of claim 7, wherein the at leastone PZT is further configured to contract or expand to move a portion ofthe load beam.
 9. The ECIS of claim 6, wherein the at least one PZT is asensor configured to sense vibrations in the suspension and load beam.10. The ECIS of claim 6, wherein the first connection portion and thesecond connection portion are connected by a via disposed on the loadbeam.
 11. The ECIS of claim 6, wherein the first connection portion andthe second connection portion are connected by a wire.
 12. The ECIS ofclaim 6, wherein the load beam comprises a base layer and a polymidelayer, the first plurality of traces of the load beam is disposed on thepolymide layer, and the first connection portion and the secondconnection portion are connected by a via disposed on a portion of thepolyimide layer disposed outside the base layer.
 13. The ECIS of claim6, wherein the second connection portion is connected to the firstconnection portion on the first side of the load beam.